Manual handling of live birds is a hazardous and unpleasant task. There are potentials for a variety of injuries to human handlers since the birds tend to flail about when they are caught. Potential injuries include: cuts and scratches that can easily become infected in a chicken farm environment; a variety of respiratory and visual ailments resulting from the high level of dust and feathers; hands or fingers can get caught in moving shackle lines; and repetitive motion disorders. The unpleasantness associated with the manual handling of live birds results in high employee turnover rates at some plants. The high turnover rate results in the need to constantly retrain new employees. In addition, it is difficult to attract new workers to the job. In addition, manual handling of live birds may lead to bruising and downgrading of birds.
Despite the drawbacks, live birds are usually handled manually (from hatching through processing). The reason for manual handling is handling of live birds by automation presents unique challenges, such as the following: (1) Unlike handling of non-reactive objects, both the mechanical forces and the bird's natural reflexes contribute to the overall dynamics; (2) Live birds vary in size and shape, making handling automation difficult; (3) Since both the birds and the grasping fingers are compliant, contact forces depend on the surface geometry and are position/orientation dependent; and (4) In order to justify the need for automation from a cost-savings viewpoint, the mechanical devices must perform the repetitive task in a shorter amount of time, and with more accuracy, than a human.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.
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